Transformers: The Next Generation
by tg-darkside
Summary: Follow Trisha Embers as she and her friends Zach Xi, Kyle Sariss, and the Autobots as they deffend the Earth from the Decepticons. But when she makes a personal sacrifice to save lives, will what she loses be more than first appears?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer! I do not own any of the transformers (names,places,factions,ect.). I claim Trisha Embers as my own character along with Blitzwave, my fan-made transformer.**

_(Visualize the transformers like the ones in Transformers Prime except Jazz who you will have to think of in his G1 form)_

Transformers: The Next Generation

Trisha POV

I'm running down a street whose name I don't know. A chalkie white cloud of dust hangs all around me. I'm surrounded by rows of townhouses and apartment buildings. A few of the houses have had chunks blown out of them and those chunks are now in the street. Most, though remain standing. Surprisingly, this part of the city has taken the least damage. Other than the few distant rumbles from an explosion, everything is silent. Like one of those quiet scenes in a movie before something incredibly bad happens.

I'm running the fastest I've probably ever ran in my entire life. My body is aching from pushing myself so hard. I start to look for a place to hide. Off to my left I see a narrow alley between two apartment buildings. There's a small indent in the brick wall that's the unloading area for trucks. Pressing myself to the large steel door, I start to regulate my breathing. After a few seconds, it's back to normal but my heart is still pounding from the adrenalin.

I'm utterly silent, straining my ears to hear the clink of metal on pavement. I think of how our seemingly flawless plan had failed. How the giant robot now chasing me caught on and fired on Zach, Kyle, and me. How he had separated me from the others, gotten me lost in this maze-like city, and was hunting me like it was some deadly game of hide-and-seek.

I hear the light metallic clangs of his feet and my breath catches. He was no more than two blocks away by my estimate. How the hell did he get so close without me hearing him!

He calls out in his gravelly voice, "I know you're here organic. Come out, come out wherever you are!"

The next thing I know I'm covering my mouth to stifle a scream as the end of the building where I came in explodes in a blast of plasma. But before I cover my mouth, a short squeak escapes. Then he's at the corner looking down the alley at me. The indent wasn't enough to hide me.

"Peak-a-boo!"

I sprint to the next street over. As I turn, the townhouse next to me is blasted away. Wham! A wooden beam knocks me upside the head and I fall to the ground. Pain is wreaking havoc on my body, but I have to keep going. I push myself back on to my feet and break back into a sprint. I don't get far. Another blast pushes my onto my back and a steel beam along with brick and other debris lands on top of me.

I try to pull myself out but it's no use, I'm stuck. As I stare through the dusty haze I see his tall, lank figure come looming into view. The small amount of diffused light reflects off his body. His silver color and red highlights gave him the appearance of a two story tall, bloody ghost. But I was about to become more of a ghost than he would ever be.

"Did you really think you could get away from me so easily?" Starscream asked, his voice taking on it's normal higher pitch.

"I didn't think you would end our little game so quickly." I replied.

"Giving you a sporting chance turned out not to be as fun as I thought it would; however, your other friends might provide more entertainment." He drew out the end and flashed a sadistic smile.

Quickly becoming enraged, I yelled, "You keep the fuck away from them you titanium bastard!"

Saying this sent him into a laughing fit. "You humans truly are diehards aren't you? You command even when you are in no position to be commanding! No one is coming to help you, not even the Autobots. There is no hope for you! However, I will be giving you a permanent relief of your pain."

He promptly proceeded to start crushing me slowly underneath his large, heavy, metal foot. I gave an in voluntary, animalistic howl of pain. The pressure of being crushed was intense. Suddenly, everything slows down and my life starts to flash before my eyes. But it's not my life flashing by, it's regrets. I see myself fighting with my sister Emily, backing out of bungee jumping, but most of all disobeying Prime's orders not to come with them here to Washington DC to fight the Decepticons.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Due to my lack of focus I have slacked off with my story. But I will attempt to get in a new chapter every weekend! And bear with me, it's my first fanfic so don't be too judgmental!

**Beware to those who flare: **You shall be put on trial be the Quintessons and fed to ravenous sharkticons. Hey, making these rhymes is easy. Maybe for Halloween I should be Wheelie! Jk, jk, just having some fun. Here's the next chapter, enjoy everyone!

_**DISCLAIMER: You know the drill.**_

Trisha POV

Starscream is trying to make my pain last as long as possible. Black dots start to swarm across my vision. Then just as I'm about to blackout, I hear a loud yell join my howl of pain. Suddenly, the pressure of his weight is gone and I can breathe again. I blink the blind spots out of my eyes and try to see what's going on.

I see two blurry figures come my way. As they come into focus I can see that they're both tall, muscular guys. One is a skinny blonde with dark tanned skin; the other is widely built with short, spikey black hair. I identify the first as Kyle and the second as Zach. They both immediately begin removing the rubble from on top of me.

What the hell did they think they were they doing? "Guys, stop... You need to get away… Starsc-"

"Jazz has Screamers covered," Kyle interrupted. "Just wait a sec and we'll have the rest of this stuff off of you."

Jazz? I looked to the side and saw that Kyle was right. There was another giant robot fighting Starscream, but this one was white with blue race stripes. It was Jazz, one of the few Autobots stationed here on earth and my guardian. He became my guardian when I found him in a junkyard. I had been looking for a car and the owner of the junkyard pointed Jazz out to me saying that he didn't know where the car came from but that the engine wouldn't start. The man had been kind enough to let me have the car for free as long as I fixed it myself. I graciously accepted and not to long after I fixed the engine, Lo and behold, it transformed into Jazz. Then a group of vehicons stumbled upon us and I more or less became a target of the Decepticons by guilt through association. This event brought me into this secret world of these alien visitors and I met Kyle and Zach (who were also under Autobot protection for reasons similar to mine) along with Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ratchet, and Optimus Prime.

As the boys removed the last of the rubble, I saw Starscream transform into a jet and fly off in irritation. Jazz walked over to where we were as soon as he was sure that the mech wasn't coming back. "Are you okay Trisha?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jazz gave me a skeptical look. At this I actually gave myself a once-over. I had a few shallow, open, flesh wounds, quite a few developing bruises, and a fine coating of dirt in uneven amounts all over me. "It's nothing I can't live with."

"Well that's exactly my point! You came this close to not living at all!" He spaced his thumb and index finger about a foot apart, which for him was a small distance. "For spark's sake, what are you guys doin' here? Optimus told you to stay at base!"

Uh-oh. We just got caught with our hands in the cookie jar.

"We came to help." Zack said.

"Help what? Get yourselves killed? 'Cause that's pretty much the only thing you guys have been able to do."

"No its not."

"Yeah! We've taken out like a dozen Cons already!" I added.

Kyle continued, "We didn't exactly take 'em out ourselves, though. We trapped them so that the spec-ops could get them. But technically we did help take out a couple Cons!"

"That isn't helping 'Einstein'." I whispered.

Just then we heard Optimus' voice come on Jazz's com-link. {Jazz, have you located the children?}

{They're all here Prime. Have Ratchet send a ground bridge our way so the kids can get back to base.} Shit. We were seriously in for it now. The medic would undoubtedly give us a lecture for not only leaving the base but also going _into_ the battle field. We were never gonna catch the end of this one.

{Unfortunately, it seems that the decepticons have scrambled all connections to recipients that are not within the city. I have not been able to reach Ratchet, nor have I received any message from him. We cannot gain ground bridge access without finding a way to contact him first}. This was in no way, shape, or form good news at all.

Jazz froze, like statue froze. After a minute or so of that, he vented sharply and said to Prime, {Please tell me you're joking. Because if you're not, then that means that we have no way of getting the kids to safety. We can't just leave them here!}

{I agree with you Jazz. However, we have no choice in this situation. The only advice I can give you is to hide them out of sight within a sturdy structure. After which you are to report back to the battle.}

Jazz vented again and turned back to all of us. "Hope y'all realize the mess you got you're selves into." His metallic form started to fall into itself until a white Mustang GT with two blue stripes across the length of its frame sat before us. The side doors opened and the seats folded down. Zach and Kyle hopped into the back while I took the passenger seat. The buckle slid across me and clicked into place as the engine roared to life. "You guys have any idea where there might be a sturdy building that's still standing?"

"I think there was a parking garage not too far from here that was still standing." Kyle suggested.

"Sounds good enough to me." Jazz replied. He pulled of down the street and headed off to the parking garage. We were there within a few minutes. We got out of Jazz and he bade us farewell as he sped off to join the ongoing battle.

"Okay," I said. "The center is probably the soundest part of this thing." Neither of them argued as we walked over to the large beams of concrete. None of us fell like sitting down so we stood with our backs against the pillar and that's all we did for the longest while. No one felt like talking.

There was an especially loud boom from somewhere not too far off. I jumped at the noise. Someone's hand wrapped around mine with comforting squeeze. I turned to see Kyle softly smiling at me. "I'm glad you're okay. I got worried when we lost you and Starscream wasn't following us anymore. When Zach and I found you underneath all of that rubble, I just…I started to think…that the worst…had happened." Kyle's eyes started to glisten as he finished the sentence.

I wrapped myself around him, resting my chin on his shoulder. "Like you said, I'm okay. And for right now we're safe." I could tell Kyle was freaked out and so was I. Right now we were both keeping each other from completely losing it.

Kyle tilted his head and kissed me on my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Kyle and I had been going out for a few months. Being involved with Team Prime more or less had brought the two of us closer together. He finally asked me out a few days after our sophomore year started and we were still going strong, now two weeks into summer break.

Another loud boom came from the city. "I hope Jazz is okay and everyone else too." I said.

"Why are the cons here in the first place?" Zach asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

Kyle answered the question. "I heard Prime and Ratchet talking about it earlier. They said it was some kind of pod but they didn't know what was inside. If the decepticons are willing to attack a major city and risk exposing themselves to get it then it must be carrying something important."

"Yeah," Zach said. "'Cuz they're goin all out over there. It sounds like they're givin' our guys a run for their money.

Just then, the sound of planes came over head followed by a series of earth shattering explosions. "Get down!" Kyle yelled over the uproar. I dropped into a tornado drill-like crouch with Zack and Kyle. The racket went on for another few seconds but I, afraid of a follow-up attack, stayed down.

Eventually we all stood back up. Then Zach spoke what all of us had been thinking. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" We had our suspicions but I was thinking that it had been the decepticons. Judging by the worried looks on the other two's faces, they were thinking the same thing as me. A sudden, loud, double honk jarred us from our thoughts. We all turned in unison in the direction of the honk. A large green SUV was idling at the entrance of the garage.

"Bulkhead!" Zach exclaimed upon recognizing the car.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." The car replied. He opened his doors and we all scrambled in. The doors closed and the seat belts buckled as Bulkhead drove off.

"Hey Bulk, you know what all that bombing was about?" Zack asked.

"One of the human Air Force units. Sending them in was a last resort. Prime didn't want to send in bombers in case the pod was hit. But we were struggling. Cons were literally throwing everything they had at us so Optimus allowed the military to send 'em in."

"Did you guys find out what was in the pod?" I asked.

"They were working on getting it open when I left to get you guys. One of the bombs landed pretty close to it. Looked like it took some damage.

We rounded a corner and found ourselves at the heart of where the battle took place. Groups of people were loading pieces of vehicons into various trucks and vans. Bumblebee and Jazz were lifting the larger bodies that the others couldn't get. It looked like they were just finishing up judging by the few bodies still left on the ground. Bulkhead drove us farther on until we came to Optimus and the pod. There was another group of people here using what looked like lasers to carve out an opening in the hull.

We got out and Bulkhead transformed into his robot mode. A section of the pod fell down as we came close. The group that had been using the lasers now picked up flashlights and entered it. Optimus knelt and shone his headlights into the darkness to help as well. Not too long after that, a larger section opened into an autobot sized opening. Optimus stood and entered.

Zach raced ahead and picked up one of the left over flashlights. Before he could run off into the pod, I yelled to him, "Don't you think charging in there is a bad idea?"

"Don't you think taking on Starscream by yourself is a bad idea?"

"Touché." But he didn't go in, obviously thinking better of it. All of us have probably had more than enough excitement for one day.

Optimus emerged from the pod just as Jazz and Bumblebee joined us. The latter let out a series of indecipherable beeps to which Optimus replied, "Protoforms."

"Protoforms?" We all asked.

"Yes. Although, upon inspection, it seems that all of them were either injured during entry or the bombing."

"Just imagine if the cons had gotten their servos on these…." Jazz left the sentence hanging.

"Dude, I don't even wanna think about that." Zach said. "We've got the pod and they don't. No harm, no foul."

Kyle gave him one of those 'really?' looks. "Um, Zach? Care to revise that statement? Because I'm pretty sure that there was harm _and_ foul." He said gesturing to the wreckage that had been Washington DC.

Embarrassed at remembering this, Zach replied, "Oh, right."

Saddened, I slowly turned and took in the full extent of the damage. Our once great nation's capital now was crumbling away. "It'll take years to repair everything." Again, I felt the familiar sqeeze of Kyle's hand on mine.

"But we'll survive like we always have. And besides, I still have you."

"Hm, where'd u get that cheesy one-liner from?" I didn't get an answer because Kyle swept me up into his arms and twirled me around. When I was finally put back on my feet, he wrapped himself around me. Then Kyle brought his lips down to mine. And for that fleeting moment nothing mattered to me but him. When people have asked me what our relationship is like, I tell them that it's a Romeo and Juliet one. I tell them that it's like we can't live without each other. That's the only way that I can describe it so that they could understand.

"Trisha and Kyle sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" sang the chorus of Zach and Bulkhead. Kyle had his back to everyone so I leaned to the side and stuck my tongue out at the two. The moment ruined, we just stared at each other, sending love through our soft gazes.

Sometime during our love gaze, I heard a pile of rubble shift behind me. Then I felt something cold and sharp being shoved between my shoulder blades. Kyle's loving look changed to one of concern. His eyes dropped down to my chest. My first thought was _Pervert! _but then I looked too, what I saw shocked me. There on my t-shirt was a growing stain of blood, _my blood_. Then the object withdrew itself from my body.

Jazz, recognizing that something was wrong, rushed over. He ran behind us and tore apart the pile of rubble. There was the sound of metal crashing into metal and a now dead vehicon landed beside me and Kyle. I looked at one of its bladed hands to see it covered is fresh human blood.

I turned back to Kyle as my legs came out from under me. Everything slowed and sounds came through muffled. Kyle is over me yelling something frantically. In the background I heard the groundbridge open. Then I'm being loaded into the back of an ambulance. _Ratchet_, I think dimly. Kyle stands beside me, covered in blood. "Stay with me Trisha! Focus on my voice. If you can hear me, say something!"

I struggle to get out the words. "I….d-don't….want t-to….die…"

"I will do everything within my power to make sure that does not happen." Ratchet promised.

Kyle squeezed my hand. "See Trisha? Everything's gonna be okay. Ratchet is gonna fix you up." His breathing sounded almost as ragged as mine and his face was streaked with tears.

I was satisfied with the promise. I let out a strained sigh as I faded into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****I could go on about how sorry I am for not updating sooner, but you guys have probably heard that over a thousand times. This is a fanfiction, not an apology letter. So I'll just get a few things out of the way. 1) If you didn't notice, this is modified prime verse. The setting will be different and so will the plot. Sorry if you don't like those kinds of stories but this is one. 2) I have some filler chapters that will need filling in the near future. Feel free to suggest characters that you want to see or things you want the gang to do. If I like your idea, then I might make it into a chapter (you will be given credit for your idea). I like hearing from the people and the whole fan influence idea. 3) Reviews are greatly appreciated and may influence how often I update. ****Shout out to supergirlprime and Fox of Magic for reviewing!** **FLAMES WILL BE ROASTED ON AN OPEN FIRE LIKE CHRISTMAS CHESTNUTS!**

Chapter 3

Darkness. And pain. Lots of pain. Not the bearable kind but the excrutiating kind. _This is worse than sitting in the ER. At least they have TVs in there._ _Great, here I am dying and all I'm worrying about is how boring it is. _So I just kind of floated like that for a while. At first, I sang a couple of songs whose lyrics I knew but I eventually ran out of songs. Then I went over the possibilities of what had happened right before I blacked out. _I got speared in my upper chest area where I have my lungs and heart. If my lung was hit then I still have the other so I will still live. If I was hit in the heart then… Nope! Not gonna think about it! Conversation over! Be optimistic, not pessimistic. Think good, not bad. Everything will be okay. Gotta think of something to do. How about math? 11*11=121. 12*12=144. 13*13= I'm bored again._

Unable to think of anything else entertaining, I just spaced out. I eventually got used to the pain but it was still there, just as painful as it had been. There was no way to tell time so it dragged on. _Boring. Boring. Boring. _Then out of nowhere I feel like the wind is knocked out of me, but it only lasts for a second. After a moment I realize that the pain is gone. It feels like I just went from wearing all wool clothing to all silk. I start to revel in the fact that I no longer fell like I'm dying. _Wait! What if that means that I'm dead? But what if it means that Ratchet was just using an anesthetic or something? How the hell would I even know the difference? _

There were too many questions that I needed answers to. The only way that I was going get them was to wake up. _So how do I wake myself up from being unconscious? _I tried several possibilities such as yelling 'Wake up!' and 'Awaken!' but that failed. I tried forcing myself awake with the same results.

_Maybe I'm over thinking this. It could be as simple as opening my eyes._ I laughed at the idea but tried it all the same. To my surprise, they did open and I was assaulted by the bright industrial lights overhead. I immediately shut them again. _I can't believe that fucking worked. Damn, do I feel stupid. _Now aware that it would actually work, I opened my eyes gradually to adjust to the light. Turning my head from side to side, I saw that I was laying on one of Ratchet's berths. Said medic was nowhere to be seen. No one was here. _I drag myself out of unconsciousness only to find no one here. Great._

I was about to get up and start searching the base until I heard a pair of footsteps heading my way. I looked around to see Ratchet and Kyle walking down one of the hallways. They were both walked into the central room as I called out to them. "Do you always leave your patients unattended Ratchet?" My voice sounded strangely metallic, but I quickly dismissed it as an echo.

The mech and the boy jumped as if they were surprised by hearing my voice. After realizing it was me, Kyle sprinted over with excitement. "Holy shit! Trisha, you're alive!"

"You thought I was dead? Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." I joked. Form my view point, I noticed Kyle looked a lot smaller. Ratchet never let us mess around on the berths. _He must look that way cause I'm so high up_.

Ratchet smirked at out banter. "I had total confidence in your recovery; however, things had looked very grim in the beginning. We were all worried."

"You were worried for me Ratch? I'm touched." Dramatically I placed my hand on my chest. Kyle and I laughed at my statement while Ratchet rolled his optics. Calming myself, I continued. "Okay, all joking aside, what's the damage?"

Ratchet took a hesitant moment before answering. "You were stabbed through the back. There was severe internal bleeding and cardiac damage. At this point you've been in stasis for two solar cycles." He glanced at me from the console as if to say more.

"Really? Wow, two days. That's a new personal. And from what it sounds like, you must be a miracle worker to fix me up after a doozie like that!" I said sitting up. Coming into a full upright position, I froze at what I saw.

Laid before me was a cybertronian's lower half. Looking more I saw connected a torso and a pair of arms but no head. _Am I sitting on someone's head? Jazz's armor has mild blue stripes, but this armor is electric blue. None of the other bots are this color. Could it be someone new?_

Then it all just clicked together. Hoping to prove my theory wrong, I pulled in my legs to get off of whatever bot I hoped I was sitting on. The giant metal legs copied the movement. I slowly moved my legs back down and the same thing happened. My theory was proven correct. _Calm down Trisha. Deep breaths._ Then I realized that I hadn't actually breathed since I woke up. That only freaked me out even more.

I didn't realized that I had spaced-out until I noticed Ratchet roughly shaking my shoulders. "Trisha! Do not gitch on me! You need to calm down. I will explain everything."

_He's right. Freaking out is not going to make this any easier. Just think of something else like…kittens! Those are distracting! Fluffy little balls of cuteness. Lolz._ By not directly thinking about the situation I was able to calm down. I guess Ratchet could tell because he released me from his grasp.

He then proceeded to explain everything that happened after I went out. My wound had apparently but me in a pretty fucked up position. In order for me to have survived, Ratchet would have needed to repair an area of my heart that he couldn't reach while keeping all of my blood from completely draining out of me. From the way he said it, it sounded like I would have died if he had tried that. So instead, Zach suggested one of his weird si-fi ideas, a brain transplant. Turns out his idea was plausible (who knew?), so Ratchet performed a 'Neurological Transplant' and downloaded my mind into the only undamaged protoform. I was told that even then there was a '95% chance of failure'. They went with the slim chance rather than the none. Since then I had been in a coma-like state, until I woke up today.

After Ratchet finished his explanation, I just sat there taking in all of the information I had been given. Experimentally, I flexed my fingers. _No, not fingers, digits. New anatomy._ "Wow." Was all I could say.

"Really?" Kyle asked. He was up on the deck now, closer to eye level. "After everything you just went through all you can say is wow?"

I gave an annoyed sigh *_Vent!* _and pointed at him. "I would hit you right now if I didn't know that it could kill you." He laughed at my threat, seeing that I still had my partially violent humor. Thinking out loud, I said, "You guys said I was out for two days so its Monday now, right? Where's Zach? Or anyone else for that matter."

"Where do you think Zach is?" Kyle replied. "Summer school." We answered simultaneously. He glanced down at his watch. "He and Bulkhead are probably on their way here now. Bee, Jazz, and Optimus are checking out an energon deposit in Siberia. Not sure when they're getting back." Then I heard dubstep coming from the entrance hall. "Speak of the devil."

Bulkhead entered the room as 'Bangarang' came to an end. His driver side door flew open and Zach jumped out. "The Z-Man has arrived!" he announced. I heard Ratchet vent in exasperation.

"No, really? I couldn't tell." I said sarcastically.

He raised his hand in a semi-wave. "Hey Trisha." He greeted and continued walking to the stairs that lead to the deck. Mid-stride, he stopped and did a double take. Zach stared at me for a second before making the connection. "Mother fucking son of Superman!" he exclaimed. Bulkhead laughed along with Kyle and I as he transformed into his robot mode. Ratchet sent him a glare. He didn't particularly like it when we cursed. "When did Sleeping Beauty here wake up?"

"It really is gonna take every ounce of will I have to remember not to beat you two. Seriously!" I turned myself on the berth so that my legs now dangled over the side.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Bulkhead greeted.

"Gracias." I turned to look at Zach who was now leaning on the rail next to Kyle. "That," I said pointing my thumb at Bulkhead, "is how you are supposed to greet someone who just woke up after almost dying!"

Zach threw his hands up in defense. "Sorry for not conforming to society's standards Ms. Perfectionist!" He then took a bag of Red Vines out of his backpack and started snacking. "So, what does it feel like? You know, being a giant robot and all."

I hadn't really thought about it too much, partially to keep me from freaking out again. I took a moment to reply. "Different. How was the first day of the last week of summer school?"

"Oh my god, don't even get me started! The whole day was so boring that Pinkie Pie would have died from boredom. So of course, me being the kind and caring person I am, took it upon myself to make the day more interesting." Zack now had the Red Vine he had been eating in his hand, prepared to use it to help illustrate his story. "I was in the middle Algebra 2. We were doing problems out of the textbook. I flipped to the back to find the answers only to realize that Mr. Carson had given us problems that the book didn't have answers to. I would have to copy from the answer key, but I wouldn't be able to swipe it from Eagle Eye's desk without him seeing me. Then my luck kicked in. Carson went on one if his ten-minute bathroom breaks. I jumped at the opportunity. I snuck my way to his desk without anyone noticing and found the key sitting on his keyboard, where he always leaves it. But I had a golden opportunity in my hands and I wasn't about to pass it up. So I used the Flash Drive of Death!" He said dramatically.

Kyle and I looked at him in shock. Kyle was the first to respond. "Dude, you used the Drive? Did it work?"

Bulkhead interrupted. "What's the Flash Drive of Death?"

"We made it at the start of this past semester. It's a normal flash drive but with a computer virus planted on it. It's no normal virus, though. After its been downloaded, it will show up as an anonymous email. When it's been opened, it can't be closed. We made a few different ones, but all of them contain annoying internet videos that play in a continuous loop at full volume."

"Which drive did you use Zach?" I inquired.

"The nyan cat drive." He then continued his story. "After copying the answers and downloading the virus I snuck back to my desk and answered the math problems. Mr. Carson went straight to his desk and I saw him open his email. I shoved my pencil in my mouth to keep a premature laugh from escaping. As soon as he open the email the video filled his screen and started playing on the speakers. Mr. Carson went into a frenzy trying to shut down his computer. None of the keys worked. I know you were worried about that part Kyle. But everything went flawlessly. He finally unplugged the computer after almost fifteen minutes. He called up to the front office to get one of the computer guys down to his room to get his computer fixed. Instead, when he got off the phone, Carson told us that today would be the last day of summer school and that letters of pass or failure would be sent home later this week. When I passed through the front office on my way out, I found out that the virus crashed the school's _entire _system! Thus I, Zachary the Great, claimed victory over the evil of Chesterwood High!" he finished, raising his Red Vine in the air like a floppy sword.

Kyle had on an expression of giddy joy. "The _entire _school crashed! That's amazing! I didn't think the virus could do that much damage!"

"I tip my hat to you, computer guru. For it was your genius that gave birth to this marvelous creation." Zach congratulated, still wearing his stately façade.

I could already see Ratchet's disapprovement evident on his face. "It's awesome to know that it works guys, don't get me wrong, but was that really a good idea Zach? I mean, I'm pretty sure that almost everyone is stressed right now." Glancing at Bulkhead, I saw that he was thinking along the same lines as me.

Both boys gained a look of shame to their features. Zach was the one to speak up. "I can see where you're coming from Trish. No one wanted to be there though. We shouldn't have even had school! Especially considering that we're only twenty miles away from DC! We all know principle Mann, he's a fucking Nazi! He doesn't let us out of school even if we get five feet of snow. Even the teachers were relieved when Mann made the call for school to end."

"Even so, I agree with Trisha. Tensions are high enough as it is and you're one of the last people that should be calling attention to themselves." Bulkhead vented. "I'm not saying you can't have fun, just don't do anything big. Keeping yourselves out of trouble will make things a lot easier until all the tension dies down."

"Okay." Both boys agreed solemnly. I looked at Ratchet to see that he was just as surprised as I was. Bulkhead was one of the last mechs I expected to give the guys a reprimand. _This only proves the gravity of the situation. If Bulkhead is this stressed, I wonder how everyone else is doing. I wonder how my family is doing. They were probably told you were killed in the battle. They think you're dead. _I quickly shoved down the thought before I could think of anything else that I might regret. "_Bad subconscious." _I thought.

Shaking off his gloominess, Zach again donned his wicked grin and returned to his normal self. "So Trish, you got an alt yet?"

Realizing what was coming next, I put on my own personal smirk. "Nope."

"Well, we've got internet and hundreds of thousands of makes, models, and years to choose from. So how about we get ourselves to the game room? That is, if you've got clearance from the doc bot."

Turning to Ratchet, I put on an innocent angelic smile. "Can I Ratchet? I'm not going too far."

Ratchet thought about it for a minute before relenting. "Fine, but do not over extend yourself. The longer I have to keep you in my med bay, the longer those two remain a pain in my aft." He glared over my shoulder at Zach and Kyle racing each other down the stairs.

Smiling at my grant to leave, I pushed myself onto my feet. I wobbled slightly before finding my center of balance. Ratchet and Bulkhead watched hesitantly, both expecting me to fall on my face. Fueled by the desire to shatter their expectations, I started walking forward, radiating confidence with every step.

"Femmes." I heard Ratchet grumble. Bulkhead chuckled as he fell into step beside me. Now that I was on my feet I saw that I was just short of being as tall as Bulk's shoulder, but still taller than Ratchet. Ahead of us, the Dynamic Duo shoved each other aside as they raced to the game room. The long walk that I remembered was now comparatively short. _A brand new perspective. I better get used to it._ I added, on a darker note. _Cause it's not gonna change._

**A/N:** Well, there it is! Another chapter down, a whole story to go. Sorry if the chapter sucks. It was written across a long time span with off and on inspiration. I could almost say that my inspiration left when Prime went on their mid-season break. Speaking of, anyone else looking forward to the return of Silas? After all, it's been about 25 years since the last (or first I should say) time a human was put in a cybertronian body. All you G1 fans know what I'm talkin about! My new goal is to try to post at least one chapter per month, so reviews will help a lot. Until then, aloha!


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